Unfathomable
by Les Lapins Mauvais
Summary: Ford tries to explain something, and Arthur is more than usually quick on the uptake. FordArthur slash, set during ‘Life, the Universe, and Everything’.


Many thanks to Akari-chan, GhoGallery, leelee, Guardian Demon, and Blackcat Hanyou for reviewing my previous story. I hope you like this one, it's dedicated to you!

Disclaimer: I am Douglas Adams, reincarnated as a teenage American girl. So I am making loads of money off of this. And that was SARCASM! Don't sue me, really!

Warning: This is Ford/Arthur slash. No like, no read.

Author's note: This takes place in 'Life, the Universe, and Everything', right after they leave the flying party. The bit in italics is from the book, the sonnet is by Shakespeare, and the rest is from my wild imagination. Though I don't think it's actually much a stretch to imagine this scene. )

Unfathomable

Or, Ford tries to explain something, and Arthur is more than usually quick on the uptake.

Sonnet XXIII

As an imperfect actor on the stage,

Who with his fear is put beside his part,

Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,

Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart;

So I, for fear of trust, forget to say

The perfect ceremony of love's rite,

And in my own love's strength seem to decay,

O'ercharg'd with burden of my own love's might.

O let my books be then the eloquence

And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,

Who plead for love, and look for recompense,

More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.

O learn to read what silent love hath writ:

To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.

"_All right," shouted Ford at Arthur, "so I'm a coward, the point is I'm still alive." They were back aboard the Starship Bistromath, so was Slartibartfast, so was Trillian. Harmony and concord were not._

"_Well, so am I alive, aren't I?" retaliated Arthur, haggard with adventure and danger. His eyebrows were leaping up and down as if they wanted to punch each other._

"_You damn nearly weren't," exploded Ford._

At that moment, Arthur saw in his face the same unfathomable emotion that he had heard in his voice when they encountered each other outside the flying party. Suddenly, in a flash of understanding, he fathomed it. The result of his fathoming was so startling that he forgot he was in the middle of an argument and stared at Ford, slack jawed.

Ford, it must be understood, was not so much angry with Arthur, as terrified that his friend might have been pummelled senseless, or squashed into a pulp by a hammer the size of a telegraph pole, or otherwise been not very nicely treated by Thor the Thunder God. Upon seeing an expression cross Arthur's face that was a rather strange mixture of understanding and bewilderment, Ford was about to make a cutting remark when he decided, on a whim as it were, to try to make everything clear. He closed the distance between them in one long stride, and placed his hands on his friend's shoulders.

"Look, Arthur," he said, "It's really very simple." He watched Arthur's face lose its gormless expression, and look down at his, smiling. Then they both leaned forward, and their lips met. Arthur's arms wrapped around Ford's waist, and Ford's slid around the back of Arthur's neck. When they pulled apart, the first words out of Arthur's mouth were, "I knew it!"

Ford had the unusual experience of looking at the earthman in puzzlement, and demanding edification.

"I realised something, and I understood it, before you explained it to me," Arthur continued, rather justifiably proud. Ford thought about how adorable Arthur looked, with his broad grin and his dimples. He couldn't resist rumpling Arthur's hair with both hands, and pulling him closer for another kiss, one which quickly deepened far more than the first one had. A slight moan caused Slartibartfast to glance up from where he sat, engrossed in the controls of the Starship Bistromath. When he saw the two men kissing passionately on the other side of the room, he smiled his old and infinitely wise smile.

'It really was inevitable,' he thought, and plotted a course towards the star system of Krikket. They flew silently on through the dark expanse of space.


End file.
